Blood & Whiskey

by Christopher G. Metcalf, D.B. Bray

5 Star This is like a street lit novel with a mix of characters, and the bodies hit the floor. Couldnt stop reading it, once I picked it up. Yoooooo...DB Bray!!!The die was cast before Donegan O'Kelly was ever born into the poverty of the Irish slums in Stones Gate, MI. He has worked out of the hood and into a violent bootlegging operation. His goal in life, the only thing he ever wanted to be was a gangster....a true gangster. The Irish neighborhood he grew up in taught him to hate the Italians.He is all about his paper and he will get it by any means necessary.He lives how he gets it....grinding.The one mistake he makes causes a huge war within the underworld of Stones Gate. If only he hadn't loaned two hundred dollars to a dead beat bootlegger, no one would have ever heard the name Donegan O'Kelly. Or the bloodbath that followed. Gangsters on both sides will die, the only question is who makes it to the top?

136 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2020

Reviews

[Crystal Luckey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had so much action from the first page. There was so much going on and it didnt stop until the very end. The charters through the story were ruthless men and women during the prohibition period and lived dangerous lives. The story line was good, but I needed more about the characters. I would love to know what became of the characters that did make it. All in all it was a great first read for me from this author being that this was my first book by him. This is an action packed read and you will not be able to put it down. The ending had a twist, I thought I saw coming, but it i missed it. Read the book!!

[Tajuana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood & Whiskey
By DB Bray
Damnnnnn, I did not see that coming! I wasn't ready😫
I had to contact the author before I started this review for a certain part because I was gonna go TF off on O'Malley 😂. I still want too, but now it for reasons I never saw coming.
Reading this book was like watching the Young Guns movie. Straight action packed!
I really thought Donegan would be a punk because of his demeanor before meeting up with Farantiano. Shittttttt Don' was Gangsta!
Donegan disappointed TF out of me though. Well no he didn't, O'Malley did. Look, they both got me feeling some type of way, ion know what to think 🥺! Donegan still is one of my favorite characters, but Claude is my favorite. I hated the way they did him😩. He seems to really be the only stand up guy, well him and Nails. Gwen, I'm keeping a close eye on her, it's just something about her that I do not trust, nor like.
I really, really enjoyed this book and honestly I wasn't expecting to but it totally blew me over! I loved how the author's word allowed me to vividly play out scenes. I definitely gotta see wth is gonna go on in book 2, because book 1 has my full attention.
Oh and for the record, McGann is a douche bag and O'Malley is too🙄
5*

Blood & Whiskey 2
By BD Bray
OMG Otis and Buttercup is hilarious!😂😂😂 Buttercup drunk a$$ stayed with the $hit$ and poor cockeyed Otis seemed to be his focus😂. They stayed getting on Donegan last nerve, I'm actually surprised he didn't end up shooting one of them in their pinky toe 😂. I really like both of them.
Rutherford is an a$$hole all the way around, I can't stand him, especially the way he treats his family but...🤔
I knew Gwen couldn't be trusted and I think Don will loose a lot more for letting it go down the way he left it.
Nails is still coming through to put in that work. I believe him and big gun is about to be force to be reckoned with frfr!
I always been that reader that gives zero fuqs about characters dying, but GOT DAMN! Most of the homies are dropping left and right 🤦🏾‍♀️. It's all good though, I'm here for the ride. In for a penny. In for a pound💪🏾
4*

[Red Ink Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood and Whiskey – DB Bray


I was given a copy of this book by the author in order to provide and honest review.

DB Bray is an American author who has also written “The Last Tribe” and of course “Blood and Whiskey 2: In for a penny, In for a pound”.


Donegan O’Kelly is a young Irish lad trying to come up in the world and working for the local Irish mobster – O’Malley, boot legging whiskey.

O’Kelly made a mistake that most of us do at one point or another – loaned money to the wrong person, and now its time to collect. Yet in the process of settling the debt there is some inevitable collateral damage, bad collateral damage. And isn’t it just O’Kelly’s luck that they are related to the Italian mobster - Don Vincenzo Farantiano.

Now O’Kelly has put in jeopardy the truce which was brokered between the Irish and the Italians as well as a lucrative deal that his boss, O’Malley, had going.

Don Vincenzo wants blood, O’Kelly’s blood, and he will stop at nothing to get it.

O’Kelly now has to deal with being hunted down by Vincenzo’s men and finding a way to get the money he owes O’Malley. Which won’t be easy for O’Malley with the police and Prohibition Officer McGann sniffing around and causing trouble for everyone.

“Blood and Whiskey” just like the name suggests is a bloody, gritty and action-packed ride. From the first page you were instantly hit with the action and blood that would remain a constant theme throughout the story. Donegan is a loveable, rough and tumble character that I couldn’t help but like. He means well but really needs to think before he acts, as the does not necessarily always go about things in the right way.

[Anissa Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fast-paced story centers mostly around a young hot-head named Donegan O'Kelly. He runs with an Irish gang in Stones Gate, Michigan. At the start he's out to collect a debt. The man he intends to collect from refuses to pay & of course O'Kelly can't have that & gunplay gets started. The only problem is he kills someone affiliated with the Italians! Now there's a war going on & you can't tell who is on what side. But you'll stay interested because you feel like he has to win. And you need to find out who's who on the different sides of the game.

[Porsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is good writing. The author says that this books is classified as crime fiction but I want to call it an historical crime fiction story due to the fact it takes place during the Prohibition Era. If you like movies about Italian and Irish gangsters then you will love this book. The movie that this book reminds me of (the most!) is Den of Thieves! The twists started and didn’t stop until the very last page. That ending was wild! All I can say is just when you have it figured out, there is something to throw you off.

[Syn Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story screams karma and reminds me to trust my instincts, think for myself and trust is not meant to be given to everyone. Overall I enjoyed this book and thought it was great, it was a little difficult keeping up with the characters but the story was very descriptive and I could get a vivid visual of what was happening which is always a bonus to me.

I really enjoyed Donegan’s character, I just wished he wouldve went another route and wasn’t so ruthless. He had so much potential.

[Judy Ferrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gangsters galore!

This is quite a book. You've got double cross after double cross. There are all kinds of gun battles and I'm not really sure who won. But it was really good book!

[KayBee's Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series opened with action. It gave me all the feels of a good mafia tale. I appreciated the fact that the writer did his research to ensure that the speech, neighborhoods, etc were true to the Prohibition era and the two warring cultures in the series.
Donegan let is pride get him and the Badgers into a war that would threaten their city. The story moved quickly and hit you with action at every turn. Bray delivered a well thought out plot with colorful characters who were as hot-headed and treacherous as they were entertaining (cough, Gwen).
If you like mafia-style Crime drama and action done well, you'll enjoy this series